Campbell in Review [1/2]

[Banackock 8,040]

 

You know, with all these thoughts and shit running through my mind lately of whether or not I should step down or continue on, I've come to some sort of reflection phase. During my time as a manager, we've seen some good success and have had many great players and people play for the Bear logo. Despite never making it all the way, and that is the end goal after all, I feel like I've done a pretty good job. Things haven't fallen into place each season like we would have maybe liked, but we always come out good. Critics follow you everywhere and I'm sure there's even going to be the few popping up here saying "you never won a cup so there is no success", but I've found you have to shrug it off and push forward. We made the push last season and came that close to winning it all and even though it may seem we're a ways out of it this season, there's still a chance and there's surely hope. Yes, I've never won a cup and yes, it haunts me each and every season that we push forward, but I'm grateful to be in the position I'm in - to work and build with the guys I have over the many, many seasons I've been behind the role and always look forward to chasing a cup with Seattle. 

 

Now, the last season or two I've felt some stress - some pressure and frustration with how things have turned out. Before Hedgehog or someone can chime in that it was because of the finals loss, it wasn't. Sure, it was disappointing and shitty to lose after making it that far and taking down a strong Legion team in an absolute nail biter series, but it felt good to 1. Finally win a playoff series 2. Progress further than we have during my tenure. The loss was painful, but it's a learning curve. Not ever GM gets luck like Hedgehog and some don't have experience like STZ, etc. This stress and pressure have been getting to me lately - eating me away. The reflection phase I was going through was showing more negative than positive, but I feel now that it's all mind over matter - whichever perspective you wish to take on. Sure, again, no cups. Yet, we've had a good run in Seattle during my tenure and I've put in the craziest amounts of work during each season to try and make it happen. From writing countless articles for numerous members (Green, Lunaro, Evvry, LaFlamme and more), to the lines, trades, trade talks, talking with the boys and dealing with the countless other everyday and season duties that we hold as GM's - It's all been worth it. It's why I've loved the job. The chase. The dream of winning that cup. It'll happen and when it does, it's gonna feel like the biggest weight off my shoulders. Like you've drank too much whiskey, can barely get it to stand and are just pounding this bitch with a 10% flopper and you finally, somehow - magically and wonderfully, find a way to bust a nut. 

 

With that said, I got curious. Where do I stand? What's my record? How many games do I have behind my tenure? Where do I stand on the Bears lists? It may not be the greatest record to some, but that's simply statistics and while that it the biggest part to it all, I've taken os much more out of it and felt I've accomplished much more too. There's a lot of guys I maybe never would have chatted much with who had come on board that I now seek counsel from, or who we talk to on a personal level. I help some guys stay active or take the work load off their shoulders a bit. Whatever, whenever. It's Seattle first. 

 

S49

 

My first season behind the bench. I'll always remember it as my biggest blunder. The competition was immense in the conference and North America was looking like one gigantic beast in the east (pussies, that ain't a lot of snow). We went all-in, making some bold moves and bringing in some strong talent. Honestly, on paper and maybe in any other season in recent seasons, we may have won. It was a crazy fucking team and it left me baffled how we finished where we did, but we did. If you look at the standings, the 3rd and final spot team in NA finished with 115 points. If Seattle were in the European conference, they would have finished first by 7 points. Despite a fairly decent record, playoffs weren't our forte. I kicked things while I could and immediately entered a rebuild/retool phase.

 

 

 

Quote

72 GP - 40 W - 30 L - 2 OTL - 82 PTS

 

 

S50

 

We brought in a little youth this season, started to stock up our youngsters and had Jakab Holik in net. While the season and what was immediately ahead wasn't looking good, the future wasn't looking too bad for the team. If not mistaken, this was the season Valmont made the surprise return and decided to be a huge cunt and retire. This was a huge hit to the team as he was a piece moving forward or at least an asset that could have been dealt. The retirement made no sense, and still has me baffled to this day, but it is what it is. Note to self, that's a player that struggles with activity for you. Lesson learned, move on. 

 

Quote

72 GP - 28 W - 38 L - 6 OTL - 62 PTS

 

S51

 

We officially got over the hump and after a little time off from playoffs, the Seattle Bears were back in the mix. Although the season was amazing, it was playoff material and we were happy. We never expected a cup, but it was a good sign moving forward and showed us we were heading in the right direction. Pieces were falling together and we really had a nice system of players on the roster. Funny enough, we made the playoffs with 80 points - 2 less than S49's finale which also only seen one team breaking those totals for team points on the year (that being the Wranglers with 132). Podarok continued to lead the way and Holik continued to grow, despite having a weaker defensive system. 

 

Quote

72 GP - 37 W - 29 L - 6 OTL - 80 PTS

 

S52

 

It really seemed like this year could be the year. In my eyes, this season and the next one were some of the shittiest luck we could have ever had. We had the team. We dominated the regular season, which to some members means everything in the damn world. We built a team and everyone was doing there part. Funny, people always look to the regular season for GM of the Year, but despite finishing 9 points ahead of any other team in the league, Campbell never received it. The Bears absolutely dominated the season and the early exit in the playoffs was a tough one to swallow for us. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy with how things ended.

 

Quote

72 GP - 58 W - 11 L - 3 OTL - 119 PTS

 

S53

 

Similar performance from the Bears in the regular season. They dominated but the race was a little closer. They had 5 players break 100 points and had Holik under 1.6 GAA. Where was his GMoTY award? Fucking weird right. Everyone is up in arms in the BoG about regular season and moves meaning so much, but it lacks evidence in these last 2 seasons of voting, doesn't it? Maybe it seems a little bit like cups and playoffs used to matter but no longer do because no one gives two shits anymore. Either way, good season, shit playoffs as usual. The team takes an early exit

 

Quote

72 GP - 57 W - 11 L - 4 OTL - 118 PTS

 

S54

 

You can call the first whatever we did somewhat of a retool, but this was a full on rebuild. Good bye talent, hello youth and the bottom, basement of the standings. It was really shit going through this, but it was needed to be done. Unfortunately, looking back at this, we could have left the rebuild a lot more successful then we did. This season, we only added Federov to the season, with some other pieces in the minors league systems. The season was garbage but is expected during a rebuild. No harm, no foul. Seattle moved forward as expected. It only hurt my overall record, haha.

 

Quote

72 GP -  11 W - 49 L - 12 OTL - 34 PTS

 

S55

 

It just took a little while to take off, didn't it? Another extremely rough patch for the team and just when you thought it couldn't get worse then last season, it did for Bears fans. Federov was the only solid piece on the organization. If not mistaken, the Bears had a pick that absolutely shit the bed and Federov was the only solid piece really on the Bears VHL roster. God bless them winning the lottery draft which eventually held the keys to driving home a brand new ferrari (Gabriel McAllister). 

 

Quote

72 GP - 10 W - 56 L - 6 OTL - 26 PTS

 

S56

 

We started to climb out of the shitty hole that we put ourselves into. The team brought in goalie Mist4ke, who they brought in simply to give him a little bit better of a time than the team he was currently playing on. They also surrounded Federov with a little bit more help by bringing in Mcallister and Forsberg too. All 3 players earned 70 points or more (Mcallister capping it at 89) and the team already seemed a little better. Unfortunately, it may have been a little bit too slow of a revamp/rebuild and looking back, I see this now. As mediocre, or poor of a record as they had, they only missed the playoffs by 8 points.. lol

 

Quote

72 GP - 29 W - 34 L - 9 OTL - 67 PTS

 

S57

 

Fook Yu, quill, Dortch, Bourdon, V2A and blah blah were added to the organization and things were looking up. Despite the normal hiccups, the team was looking like it may final be on their way back to playoffs and playoff hockey could be returning to TV's in Seattle. They pushed and pushed and played really solid at the start of the year, but started to simmer down at the later half. This showed and reflected on their record and they missed playoffs by 10 points (88 points). Tough, tough way to end a season for everyone on the team. Again, maybe too late of an organization/roster push - dunno. 

 

Quote

72 GP - 42 W - 26 L - 4 OTL - 88 PTS

 

S58 

 

Hot start followed by another simmer down period, but the Bears finished 3rd in the entire league and only 6 points back of 1st place.  The team was looking really solid but seemingly were the underdogs throughout the entire season and playoffs. FINALLY. We make it through a fucking playoff series too. It's been forever and more.. and were make it to the finals too.. man, what a rush. What excitement. What Nerves.. all of the above.. it was crazy and an emotional ride. We came close, it was a great season and a great performance with great people. Shitty it had to end that way but was a great experience and taste of what it COULD be like..

 

Quote

72 GP - 53 W - 14 L - 5 OTL - 111 PTS

 

S59

 

And we're present. Welcome to today. The Bears aren't performing as hot as they were last season and this could be because of the update scale or the fact that they had to toss away 2 really great players and really only seen one returned to the roster in Johnsson (Quik). Either way, the team has done some juggling and are looking to be getting back on track. The season is still young, we're excited and still maintaining positivity and realize you don't have to finish first to make it far. You only have to finish first to be in GMoTY contention (come on guys, know I'm 75% joking and 25% being real. Settle down).

 

Quote

44 GP  - 26 W - 15 L - 3 OTL - 55 PTS

 

 

CAREER

 

I mean, it hasn't been a bad one. Like I said above, there's some things I would have done differently and there's some things I wouldn't have. I feel as though Kendrick was right with one thing and this ultimately does play a part in where were at. During the moment, I wasn't keen on making moves if I had some sort of relationship with a player. LaFlamme, great guy and extremely loyal and he's finally playing some nice hockey. He seemed great at the start - but it was a mistake pick. Just being honest. Another would be maybe a late push for the second rebuild. With Holik and them, we did it right. I think we kind of got fucked by luck and NYA was also a solid team too though. This time around, maybe it was too slow - not sure. Doesn't help that Riga had a horseshoe up their ass with mediocre players playing like elite talents and Wayne Gretzky Jr's. Either way, yeah - not a whole lot of playoff success but I'm still very happy with my career and all the stages along the way. Very grateful to have shared an LR with many great people and look forward to more to come  

 

Quote

764 GP - 391 W - 313 L - 60 OTL - 842 PTS

 

Coming up on the 400th win of my career. Pretty neat milestone. Seeing this definitely makes me a little happy about shit.  Not happy about getting that 300th L this season though. Needed a 71-1-0 season - DAMN.

[Banackock 8,040]

Jesus - with my VHLM/Watchmen tenure.. I've GM'd 1,125 games (not including the minor World Cup  ) 

[Gooningitup 1,290]

To be fair i think one of the years u got robbed. I had taken a team that was picking top prospects for a few seasons from the gutter to a final and almost denied history 

[Banackock 8,040]

1 minute ago, Gooningitup said:

To be fair i think one of the years u got robbed. I had taken a team that was picking top prospects for a few seasons from the gutter to a final and almost denied history 

When was this? VHLM? 

 

#BringBackBratislava

 

#KillVegas

 

@Beaviss

[Gooningitup 1,290]

Just now, Banackock said:

When was this? VHLM? 

 

#BringBackBratislava

 

#KillVegas

 

@Beaviss

 

No VHL i just forget what year i won it cuz it doesnt get put on my players pages. It was the last year of Torontos 3 peat

[Banackock 8,040]

Just now, Gooningitup said:

 

No VHL i just forget what year i won it cuz it doesnt get put on my players pages. It was the last year of Torontos 3 peat

Ah, possibly.  More so likely, haha. 

[Gooningitup 1,290]

Either way should if not already be a guy who goes into the hall as a builder not many GMs have 1100+ games to there name. And had atleast decent sucess outside playoffs 

[Banackock 8,040]

23 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

Either way should if not already be a guy who goes into the hall as a builder not many GMs have 1100+ games to there name. And had atleast decent sucess outside playoffs 

Eh.

 

I dunno know what Gregs records were like, but he GM'd the team for a total of 13 seasons (2 different times). I'm the longest single tenure GM for Seattle, but he's got me beat by 2 for seasons.

 

@Will @Beketov What was the Game played totals back in S28 etc? Just wanna see where I rank and such. Wish we had the indexes  

[Beaviss 4,957]

Sorry Vegas was my first team ever so I love them.

[Gooningitup 1,290]

2 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

Sorry Vegas was my first team ever so I love them.

 

Thats cuz u had me <3

[Beaviss 4,957]

2 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

 

Thats cuz u had me <3

 

No @Tagger was my true love.... 

[Banackock 8,040]

4 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

 

No @Tagger was my true love.... 

You've had a rough love life.

 

1-800-abusive-relationships

 

(quite the long phone #) 

[Beaviss 4,957]

6 minutes ago, Banackock said:

You've had a rough love life.

 

1-800-abusive-relationships

 

(quite the long phone #) 

 

1-800-need-taggerback

[Will 4,660]

37 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Eh.

 

I dunno know what Gregs records were like, but he GM'd the team for a total of 13 seasons (2 different times). I'm the longest single tenure GM for Seattle, but he's got me beat by 2 for seasons.

 

@Will @Beketov What was the Game played totals back in S28 etc? Just wanna see where I rank and such. Wish we had the indexes  

 

I think it was always 72 

[Banackock 8,040]

3 minutes ago, Will said:

 

I think it was always 72 

Ah, thanks. Still a ways to go for #1 in SEA then!

[Kendrick 4,741]

1 hour ago, Gooningitup said:

Either way should if not already be a guy who goes into the hall as a builder not many GMs have 1100+ games to there name. And had atleast decent sucess outside playoffs 

Just to give insight, building is about more than being a GM.

[Banackock 8,040]

Macy's drink water. 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Banackock
Y not

[hedgehog337 3,483]

5 hours ago, Banackock said:

Not ever GM gets luck like Hedgehog

 

It's not like you hadn't luck as well. 4th pick for already a sub 500 TPE prime player = Fedorov and second dispersal pick which turned into Gretzky. McAllister is kinda luck too.

[Banackock 8,040]

28 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

It's not like you hadn't luck as well. 4th pick for already a sub 500 TPE prime player = Fedorov and second dispersal pick which turned into Gretzky. McAllister is kinda luck too.

Federov was in a stacked draft and most teams didn't want to gamble on a GM player - despite it being BANA, not bushito.  

[hedgehog337 3,483]

2 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Federov was in a stacked draft and most teams didn't want to gamble on a GM player - despite it being BANA, not bushito.  

 

You still had a good chance you would get Fedorov. Dollar was picking his goalie in any case and Fook Yu was good himself. Hudson was kinda surprising, but that was Higgins decision.

 

Do not understand Bushito part. He wasn't a GM by that time.

[Bushito 1,945]

3 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

You still had a good chance you would get Fedorov. Dollar was picking his goalie in any case and Fook Yu was good himself. Hudson was kinda surprising, but that was Higgins decision.

 

Do not understand Bushito part. He wasn't a GM by that time.

I think he was referring to the fact nobody wanted to gamble on my goalie and I got him in the 2nd round and he now has over 800 TPE. But I was also 90% sure I was retiring him since there were so many goalies. Glad I didn't now.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

9 minutes ago, Bushito said:

I think he was referring to the fact nobody wanted to gamble on my goalie and I got him in the 2nd round and he now has over 800 TPE. But I was also 90% sure I was retiring him since there were so many goalies. Glad I didn't now.

 

I need to pull this trick when I'm done with competing

[Banackock 8,040]

25 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

You still had a good chance you would get Fedorov. Dollar was picking his goalie in any case and Fook Yu was good himself. Hudson was kinda surprising, but that was Higgins decision.

 

Do not understand Bushito part. He wasn't a GM by that time.

Bushito will auto retire if on another team haha

[Banackock 8,040]

21 minutes ago, Bushito said:

I think he was referring to the fact nobody wanted to gamble on my goalie and I got him in the 2nd round and he now has over 800 TPE. But I was also 90% sure I was retiring him since there were so many goalies. Glad I didn't now.

But also this. 

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Review:

An older Campbell review. I think you've done a fine job as GM. I don't know why there's been some hate over some of the seasons, but I guess I"m more of a laid back guy than most on here. Keep up the good work.